scan results

The doctor called today. The MRI and CT scans from yesterday both showed a slight shrinkage in the cancer. This is good news. Our next appointment is on Monday so we should be able to look at the pictures and ask more questions then. We're making progress. Take care. -Eric

Not much to report

I haven't posted in a while, not much to report. I still go in for maitenance drugs every three weeks. I still feeling somewhat crappy. Headaches, fatigue and naseau and the big issues I deal with everyday. We were hoping that these side affects would go away after awhile but they are still lingering. The doctor seems to think that these side affects are related to the disease itself and not the treatments. Still no hair growth. I go in for more scans in about 11 days, and we'll have more information then on the progress of the cancer. Take care. -Eric

hair news

So our most recent appointment with the doctor revealed some disturbing news. "Your hair may not ever grow back". Given the intense radiation exposure directly to the head it is not uncommon for the hair follicles to sustain significant damage such that it won't grow any more. They could have mentioned that before starting the treatments:) Well I haven't completely given up hope on the hair front, there are certainly worse things that could be happening. -Take care. -Eric

My family

That's one good looking family. I was a looker back when I had hair.

Monicas Aunt

Monica's Aunt passed away yesterday. She had been battling breast cancer for a number of years, and it caught up to her. She was a good woman. Monica is traveling to the funeral this weekend. -Eric

Update

I finished radiation about five weeks ago. I have felt pretty crappy ever since. Lots of headaches, nausea and fatigue. This past week they put me on some new drugs to help out. Basically consisting of steroids and a different nausea medication. I have felt much better the last two or three days. I received another CT scan and and another MRI. Results showed that the spots on the brain are still there, but they are small and not growing. The spots on the lungs are also still there but seem to be about the same. So the oncologist says we are stable right now and we will continue with the same treatments. So things are good right now. Take care. -Eric

hanging in there.

I had to shave off what was left of the hair. it kept falling out in spots, so I am back to bald for the time being. I keep telling myself that I am feeling a little better each day and then a bad day hits, so I am not so sure, but hopefully it is just a matter of time until things get better. Not much more to say right now. I have another doctors appointment this week, and some scans in a couple of weeks to check the progress of things. Take care. -Eric

hair today, gone tomorrow

Lost my hair again. Most of it fell out in the shower, so we finished it off which the razor. I still have a military style patch on top, but I'm not sure how long that will stay around. I'm still nauseous and very fatigued. I hope this all goes away soon, I can't remember what it's like to feel good anymore.

I made it - sort of

I finished the radiation treatments on Friday. I am sure glad that is over. The nurses sent me home with my radiation mask as a souvenir, and a certificate of completion. It seems a little odd to get a certificate of completion but I guess now that I think about it, it's probably a select few who have one of those hanging on their wall. My mom always told me that I was special I guess she was right. They say the sides affects could linger for a few weeks. I still have headaches, nausea and vomiting so I guess they weren't kidding. So it's a little anti-climatic to be done and still feel crappy. I woke up this morning and my hair-hurt. This is not a good sign since I had the same sensation when I lost my hair during chemo. We'll do more scans to check the success of the radiation in a few weeks. Looking forward to feeling better soon. Take care. -Eric

Radiation 2

I have received 5 doses of radiation, I am half way done. 5 more to go next week. I won't receive radiation on Saturday or Sunday so I am hoping that the two day respite will help me to feel better. Monica asked me which was worst the chemo or the radiation. The chemo was definitely worse but the radiation is not far behind. The only word that really describes how I feel is "crappy". Hoping for better days ahead. Take care. -Eric

Radiation

It's day 3 of the radiation treatments. 7 more to go. It's not going as smoothly as I had hoped. Day 1: I recieved the first radiation dose. They are radiating my entire head, and a small area on my left lung where the cancer is the most dense. I went to work after the first dose, 4 hours later I got a really bad headache, 2 hours after the headache I came home from work and started vomiting and feeling pretty crappy, I didn't sleep well that night. Day 2: More vomiting. I received the second dose of radiation. The doctor put me on steroids to reduce the swelling in my head and help with the headaches, and naseau medication to help with the vomiting. Day 3: More vomitting. I recieved the third dose of radiation. The headaches seem to be gone after starting the regime of steroids, but the naseua is still around. The doctor suggested a different naseua medication. I am also feeling a little fatigue, but the naseua is the worst. Fun stuff. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Take care. -Eric

what's up

It took a while to get the radiation procedure setup and appointments scheduled. I went in today for the first treatment. This first treatment is called a dry run. This means that there was no radiation given, just a test of the setup and procedure to make sure everything is ready. They bolted my head to the table with my radiation mask, and lined up the lasers to my tatoos and took some pictures of my head and lungs. I will receive my first treatment on Monday morning at 8:30 and more treatments everyday for the next two weeks. Wish me luck.

My tatoos

I felt a little rebellious today so I went out and got some tattoos, three to be exact. We met with the radiation oncologist today to prepare for radiation treatments. The plan is to radiate the entire head. There are 6 identifiable cancer spots on my brain. All are small; the largest is located in the front left lobe of the brain. The others are very small and difficult to see in the scans. The cancer was introduced through the brain fluids, so that is why we have to do a full head radiation, rather than spot treatments. The radiation will most likely start next Monday. Today I received a CT scan of my head, and I was fitted with a radiation mask. The radiation mask is custom created and fitted to my face; the intent is to protect the part of my head that we don’t want to radiate. I will receive 10 doses of radiation, one each day for 10 days. Side affects can include nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, short term memory loss, and hair loss (crap I just barely got my hair back). Both my oncologist and the radiation oncologist are optimistic that this will clear up the cancer on my brain. There are not many other options if this doesn’t work. I won’t be able to drive while receiving the radiation treatments, so Monica will now be my chauffeur, in addition to everything else she does. There is also an option to do some radiation on the cancer in the lungs at the same time. I am working with my oncologist to decide if this is the right time to pursue this, there are good reasons on both sides of that decision. I also received my maintenance drugs today. So I am feeling good today, once we start the radiation treatments next week I may not feel so well. Oh by the way the tattoos are alignment marks that are put on both sides and the middle of my chest to help the radiologist line up the radiation machine to exactly where it needs to go every time, and yes they are permanent. I guess that’s about all I know right now. This is all very scary stuff and Monica and I have certainly had our ups and downs over the last few days. But I guess I have decided that we are doing everything possible both medically, and spiritually to fix this and in the end that’s all we can do. So there is no need to cry, and no need to fret, that doesn’t do much good. We just pull ourselves up, put a smile on our face and never ever give up. Take care -Eric

good news/bad news

I had two scans on Wednesday. A C.T. scan to check the cancer in my lungs, and an MRI scan because I have been getting some unexplained head and neck aches. The good news is that the cancer in my lungs has not grown, so the maintenance drugs are doing their job there. The bad news is that the cancer has spread into my head. The MRI found spots of cancer on my brain. I received the call from doctor about 2 hours ago at work. I am at home now. Apparently the brain does a good job of blocking the chemotherapy drugs, so that explains how the cancer was able to spread to the brain without spreading in the lungs. The plan is to start radiation therapy as soon as possible next week. I will receive daily radiation treatments for the next 3 weeks followed by another MRI. Take care. -Eric

My hair

Today I had to comb my hair for the first time in 6 months. I actually had to put a little hair gel in since it is so "long". It's looking pretty good.

The neck and head aches have continued to be an issue. We discussed this with the doctor in our last visit and she seemed a little concerned. She has scheduled an MRI of my head to make sure that nothing unusual is going on up there.

Take care. -Eric

Yoga

Now every morning I wake up my body is stiff and sore, not sure why. I went to a massage therapist last week and that seemed to help a little. The therapist recommended that I try some yoga to stretch out my muscles. I found a yoga TV program on PBS, so I have been getting up early and doing it the past few days. I have discovered that I am quite possibly the most inflexible man in the world:) This yoga stuff is hard, and it hurts. But I have to admit it does make my body feel better when I am done. Take care. -Eric

haircut

I got a haircut yesterday. This is the first haircut I have had in 6 months, and it was literally "a hair" cut. Monica trimmed off one or two hairs just to smooth it out. It's still pretty thin although it seems to be filling in lately, and there are a lot of white hairs in the mix. I am hoping that these white hairs will eventually go away but I don't know if that will be the case. Take care. -Eric

update

The past week or two I have started to get body pains. The pain is primarily in my shoulders and neck and up into my head. I also have pain in my legs. They feel like muscle pains, as if I had pulled a muscle doing something. We don't know if these pains are related to the drugs, or the cancer, or something else altogether. Right now the doctor just wants us to keep an eye it and let him know if it gets worse. A couple of advil now and then seem to keep the pains tolerable. I have scheduled a massage for next week to see if that will help.

Picture

This picture is a couple of months old. I'm the good looking one. -Eric

Update

The maintenance drugs are much easier handle. There haven't been any side affects that I have noticed. It's been a week since I had the first dose of maintenance drugs and I am feeling pretty good. I am getting my energy back, and I am much more active now than I have been in the last 5 months. I was out in the yard doing some yardwork the last two days and my whole body is sore. I think my inacitivity over the past 5 months has taken a toll. I need to get out and rebuild the muscle mass that I have lost and get some exercise. I get tired pretty quickly and the shortness of breath limits how ambitious I can get, I have to pace myself.
The hair on my head is getting longer, however it's very soft and thin. It's not as it was. I am considering shaving it off again until it's ready to come in more fully. The hair on the rest of my body has not started growing back yet.
The doctors appointments will slow down for now. I don't have to go in for regular bloodwork or checkups. I only have to go in once every three weeks for more maintenance drugs. We're hoping we can stay on this regime for a long time to come. Take care. -Eric

good news/bad news

I received a call from the receptionist at the oncologists office yesterday. She said that the CT scan showed no new cancer growth. That's all the information she had at the time. I'll talk to the doctor and see the scan results on Monday so I'll have more information then. No new growth is good. This is the good news.
The bad news. I think my hair is falling out again. Bummer. This puts me at a slight disadvantage for the hair growing contest, we may have to change the rules:)
I'm going in on Monday for my first round of maintenance chemo, should be shorter, and they promised no side affects.

Life is good. Take care. -Eric

Nose Hair

My nose hair trimmer has received a well deserved rest over the past couple of months since loosing my hair. But now that my hair is coming back I need to dust it off and put it back it work. There's mixed blessings with new hair growth:)
Thursday I go in for another CT scan to see where the last chemo dose left me before we go into maintenance mode. I have high hopes that the results will be promising. I've taken to chanting "Die cancer die" repeatedly. That will work right? It certainly can't hurt:)
It's tough to bring up the topic of prognosis while talking to the doctor. I know what the prognosis is, and the doctor knows what it is, so everyone just seems to avoid the topic. But I did bring it up again the other day. I told the doctor "I need another 50 years, can you do that for me"? The response was, "This may not be a good time to start negotiating". Who's negotiating, I'm just setting the expectations:)
I've considered asking the doctor about his money back guarantee policy, just in case he doesn't cure me, maybe next time:) -Take care. -Eric

Hair growing contest

Some of my friends and the hair growing contest. This is day 7. It's going to be tight race.

What's up

This past week was little rough. Mostly I just had a complete lack of energy, and spent most of the time in bed. I missed a couple of days of work trying to recover. I seem to be getting a little stronger each day. Hopefully this week will be better. I tried to mow the law yesterday, it really needed it. I probably should not have done that. After finishing the front yard, I felt like had just finished running a marathon. Monica had to help me finish the back yard.
I stopped shaving my head after the last round of chemo this past Monday. I already have some really good growth. A couple of friends of mine from work have also shaved their heads and we're having a contest to see who can get their hair back the fastest. I'll post some pictures soon. Take care. -Eric

"heart attack"

Thanks to all those who gave us the "Heart attack".

6th round done

I just finished my 6th round of chemo. So far so good. This is my last round of chemo, so here’s what will happen next: I’ll go on to a regime of maintenance drugs. I’ll receive these drugs through an IV every three weeks just like the chemo, but instead of 6 hours in duration, the maintenance treatments should only take about 1.5 hours. The intent of these drugs is to maintain the current level of the cancer, and prevent new growth. The side affects from these maintenance drugs are minimal so I should start feeling better, start growing my hair back, and start getting back to as normal a life as possible. I’ll continue to receive CT scans every couple of months to monitor any changes in the cancer. If there is new growth then I will go back onto chemo and repeat this cycle again. Given the advanced stage of my cancer, and the fact that lung cancer does not take well to remission, I will likely be going through these cycles for the rest of my life. Lets hope that's a very long time. Moinca is awesome -Eric.

Update

So this round has gone pretty good so far. (knock on wood). The side affects have been much easier to manage as compared to the previous two rounds. It's sad to say but maybe I'm just getting used to it. We are keeping a close eye on things watching out for signs of infection so we can nail it early if it comes back. Monica is awesome. -Eric

Pre-chemo

Going in for chemo round 5 this morning. I am having a hard time getting excited about this one. Each round has gotten progressively worse with respect to the side effects, and the last one was awful. I don't want to see how it can get worse. Woo Hoo, here we go. Take care. -Eric

CT scan and stuff

We found out the CT scan results today. The results were good. There was additional shrinkage of the cancer cells this time around as well, although the shrinkage was much less as compared to previous shrinkage. This means we will be doing two more rounds of chemotherapy. The doctor expects that future shrinkage will be minimal and these next two rounds are intended to acheive all the shrinkage that we can get before stopping the chemotherapy.
Todays planned chemotherapy was postponed by one week. The doctor wanted to give me a break since the last round was particularly rough. We will start a new round next Monday. Once the next two rounds of chemotherapy are complete, I will go onto the maintenance drugs. The drugs are designed to maintain the current level of the cancer and hopefully prevent additional growth. The side effects of the maintenance drugs are minimal so it will allow me to get back to as normal a life as possible. Chances are the cancer will start to grow again at some point in the future even while on the maintenance drugs. At that time I will go back onto chemotherapy. Perhaps using a different recipe.
My hair has started to grow back. Particularly my eyebrows and chest hair. I still shave my head so I did not notice it there. It has been somewhat emasculating that my 8-year old son has more chest hair that I do:) The doctor says this hair growth is likely temporary growth as my hair will not really start to grow back until I am completely off the chemotherapy. So I am guessing that it will be about 8 weeks from now before I see any real growth.
Well I am looking forward to a good week this week before the next round. Take care. -Eric

Appointments

Two appointments this week. The first was with the throat doctor for a post surgery check up. My voice is much better since the surgery. I still have a ways to go but the doctors says I am making good progress and he expects my voice to be back to near normal in just a matter of weeks. The incision is also healing nicely and will continue to disappear over time. The second appointment was a CT scan to check the progress of the chemotherapy treatments. I'll find out the results of the CT scan on Monday when I meet with the doctor. I am scheduled for more chemotherapy on Monday, let's hope this round goes a little more smoothly:) Take care. -Eric

Hospital Stay

So the out-patient treatments did not work. Or at least not as fast as the doctor wanted. He checked me into the hospital for additional treatments and testing. I spent two days there where they did all kinds of tests and put me on stronger antibiotics. They did not find anything else wrong and eventually the antibiotics started working. I am home now and feeling better with each passing day.

Infection

I somehow got an infection in my colon. You can use your imagination to figure out what kind of havoc that has caused. Given that I am on chemotherapy I am much more susceptible to getting various infections. I am now on antibiotics trying to fight it off. On the upside I am getting more exercise now than I am used to; The short sprints from my bed to the bathroom every hour or so are really keeping my leg muscles limber:) Take care. -Eric

Post chemo

Okay, so things got worse after the last post. I was up all night with nausea on Wednesday and home from work recovering on Thursday. My throat is still very sore and I feel very fatigued and weak. But I seem to be able to keep some food down now. Wow it's tough to think positive thoughts when you're curled up in the bathroom all night with a bucket between your knees. Clearly the nausea pills they gave me are placebos, because they are not working:{ Hanging in there. -Eric

Staples

I had the staples removed from my neck today. The doctor says that the incision is healing very well. The incision is about 3 inches long. My throat is still very sore and the doctor expects it will be so for at least another week. I am still on a regular dose of pain-killers. The voice does sound better but due to the swelling it still sounds strained. Once the swelling is down and the pain subsides, I will be seeing a speech therapist to help me learn to use the new pipes. I had chemotherapy again on Monday. I have had severe fatigue for the past two days and in combination with the sore throat, it has been pretty miserable. Things should start to get better later in the week. -Eric

Recovery from Surgery

I have been trying to avoid talking, but that's easier said than done. I still sound quite raspy, and hoarse. My throat is swollen and sore and the pain killers make me tired. The doctor will remove the staples from my neck on Wednesday. I am impatient to get my voice back, the doctor says it will take some getting used to and I will have to relearn to speak again with the new pipes. I am back in for the fourth dose of chemotherapy tomorrow. Take care. -Eric

Post-Surgery

Well, I survived the surgery. The doctor said it went very well. The surgery took about 1.5 hours to complete. I had to be kept awake during the surgery so that I could talk with the doctor about how the prosthetic felt, and to be able to speak so that we could test how well it worked. These prosthetics are custom fitted for best results. I was a little nervous about being awake during the surgery. But I got really nervous when part way through the surgery I heard the doctor say: "Get me the big knife this one is not working ... hmm, this one is not working either, get me the saw ..." Buzzzzz. I white knuckled it during that part. But honestly I did not feel any pain at all. They shot me up with a bunch of local anesthesia for the pain, so all I really felt was pressure and pinching during the procedure. I could notice an immediate difference in my voice afterwards. But it is still quite raspy due to all of the swelling. The doctor told me not to talk for the next 3-4 days to allow the swelling to go down, at which point he expects my voice will sound very much like normal. I have half a dozen staples in my neck where they made the incision, and a large bandage that will be in place for the next week or so. I spent the night at the surgical center so that they could monitor my vitals. It wasn't too bad, but the bed wasn't that great, so i didn't sleep much. They have me on pain killers and antibiotics until the swelling goes down. It went very well and my hopes are high for the end results. Take care. -Eric

Pre-Surgery

Well, tomorrow's the day. I'm going in for surgery on my throat to get my voice back. Believe it or not it has been five months since I first lost my voice. I have grown accustomed to it in many ways, but it is still an issue at home, and at work, and I need to get it fixed. I am a little nervous that I have to be awake for the whole thing, but excited for the outcome. The surgery is scheduled for 12:45 pm tomorrow and I can't eat or drink after midnight tonight, so it's going to be long morning tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be hungry. The surgery is scheduled to take about 2 hours. This surgery requires an overnight stay at the surgery center so they can monitor my recovery. Wish me luck.

PInewood Derby

This is Josh. Josh recently turned eight and he is great. He joined the cub scouts and competed in his first cub scout pine wood derby. Here is a picture of me and Josh and the car we built. While we did not place in the top three, Josh's car did very well.

Caught a Cold

I caught a cold this past week and it's kicking my butt. Since my cell counts are at their lowest it could be tough to shake. The doctor is putting me on antibiotics to stave off any potential infections since I am at high risk. And I am on the standard cold/cough medications to mitigate the other symptoms. I have another Nadir check coming up on Thursday where they will check my cell counts and make sure that I am not too low. Having Fun:) Take Care. -Eric

Third Dose

The third dose is going okay. I opted for the post-chemo IV after this dose to help mitigate the side affects. I'm not sure if it helped or not, but I have not had the nausea that I had last time, which has been nice. Each dose has come with it's own unique side affects and perhaps that has been the hardest part, just not knowing what to expect. Fatigue and body aches have been the most prevalent this time. The doctor says that the side affects would get progressively worse with each dose. That doesn't give me much to look forward too :)
Just a bit of advise. Don't get cancer. :) I would like to say that there is no upside to getting cancer, but that's not necessarily true. I have never been closer to my wife and kids. It really puts things in perspective, and life's priorities seem to be a lot easier to sort out now days. Take care. -Eric

CT scan results/Third dose

I spoke with the doctor today about the CT scan results from last week. The nodules in my lungs have shrunk since the last check. The doctor is pleased with the results. I also received my third dose of chemotherapy today, all is well so far. We have scheduled an IV for Wednesday morning in hopes of minimizing the side effects like I had last time. I will undergo one more chemotherapy dose (that will make 4 total) and then I will get another CT scan. If the nodules are continuing to shrink we'll tack on two more chemotherapy doses. If they have stopped shrinking then the chemotherapy will likely stop for now and we will discuss next steps.

CT scan

I had a CT scan today. This is the first check point since starting the chemotherapy treatments. This will tell us if the chemotherapy is working or not. Whether or not the cancer is shrinking, staying the same, or continuing to grow. I might hear the results tomorrow, but most likely not until Monday when I meet with the doctor again for my next chemotherapy treatment. Obviously I am anxious to see the results.
This past week has been good. I have felt good and the fatigue has been minimal. Now that I know what affect the chemotherapy has on me, it's hard to get excited about going in for another treatment.
You can find more information about CT scans here:

http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/ctscan/CTS_whatis.html

Nadir Check 2

I went in for my Nadir check today. They do a blood test about 10 days after each chemotherapy dose to make sure your cell counts are not too low. They call this the Nadir check. I passed. My cell counts are sufficiently low as expected, but not too low to cause concern. Here is a link with more information about Nadir:

http://www.chemocare.com/whatis/what_is_nadir.asp

Throat Specialist

I had an appointment with an Ear Nose/Throat/Specialist today. We discussed surgical options for fixing my paralyzed left vocal chord. The hope was that over time the nerve that controls this paralyzed vocal chord would heal and start to function again, this has not happened and chances are that it won't at this point . Given the difficulty to speak, and realization that it is not going to fix itself, we determined it would be best to pursue the surgery. The doctor says that the surgery does a very good job of restoring the voice and correcting other side effects such as coughing and difficulty swallowing. The surgery involves surgically implanting what amounts to a prosthetic implant in the throat to close the gap where the non-functioning vocal chord is. This is done through a hole that is cut in the front of the neck/throat, all while I am partially awake!?!? I am looking forward to being able to carry on a conversation again, talk on the phone and be heard. The surgery is scheduled for March 19th.

Bald head

There have been many requests for a picture of my bald head, so here you go.

Last week was rough

Skipped church today to get some rest. Last week was rough. It amazes me that no matter how much sleep I get, when I wake up I still feel like I haven’t slept in a week. This only encourages me since this means the drugs are doing their job. Each day I seem to get back a little more strength, so if I can just hold on a few more days, things will be much better. Monica is awesome, I could not do this without her.

Antigua

Picture of us in Antigua on vacation.

Second round

This second round of chemo is kicking my butt. I can’t keep any food down, and I feel like someone ran me over with their truck, and then stopped and backed over me just to make sure they didn’t miss. I do feel better than I did yesterday, but I need to figure out how to get some food to stay down as I am feeling very weak. Happy Valentines Day. Monica made a wonderful looking cake for the occasion, I may not be able to enjoy it this year.